Press Releases: ANOTHER ECSTASY OVERDOSE IN ABBOTSFORD

Woman Battles for Her Life

A 24-year-old Abbotsford woman is battling for her life after ingesting ecstasy with three friends on New Year's Eve.
Abbotsford Police Const. Ian MacDonald said the woman, whose name has not been released, was at a home in the 33700 block of George Ferguson Way when she became unconscious and unresponsive.

She was treated on scene at about 6 a.m. on New Year's Day by BC Ambulance and Abbotsford Fire Rescue personnel before being transported to hospital.
MacDonald said the women, ages 23 to 31, took "numerous" blue ecstasy pills throughout the evening, starting at the residence. They then went out for the night and returned to the home, ingesting the last pills at about 4 a.m.
The friends indicated that the victim consumed more pills than they did, MacDonald said.

This is the second ecstasy overdose in Abbotsford in less than two weeks. Cheryl McCormack, 17, died Dec. 22 after having taken ecstasy with three other friends at a sleep-over on Dec. 19.
McCormack's friends indicated that the girls had been taking the drug, which can suppress appetite, to aid in weight loss.

Press Releases: CANADA IS A LEADING SOURCE OF SYNTHETIC DRUGS:

Canadians may think of illegal drug trafficking as a problem to pin on foreigners, but in the global trade in synthetic drugs like ecstasy and methamphetamines, Canada is one of the bad guys.

The United Nations' World Drug Report for 2011 was released Thursday, and Canada does not come off well - which is no surprise to those working in drug enforcement.

"If you look at the size and magnitude of these illicit drug labs, we just don't have the population and consumer base for this," said Sergeant Brent Hill, commander of the RCMP's chemical diversion unit in Milton, Ont. "This is for export and we know this. Do you really want to be a leading source country of illegal drugs?"

The annual UN drug report singles out Canada as a leading exporter of meth to the United States, the Philippines, Malaysia, Mexico and Jamaica.

In addition, "the resurgence" of ecstasy use south of the border "was fuelled by the manufacture [of ecstasy] in Canada and subsequent smuggling," according to the report which is based on global police, government and health records.

"For years we have pointed the finger at Colombia and Afghanistan," said Thomas Pietschmann, of the threat analysis section of the UN's Office on Drugs and Crime. "But the same kind of standard should apply to Western countries like Canada."

The UN report says Canadian authorities busted a dozen ecstasy labs and 23 meth labs in 2009 - the latest year for which statistics are available - and seized close to half a metric ton of ecstasy.

Canada is seen as having lax control over the import and domestic trade of precursor chemicals such as pseudoephedrine. Combined with proximity to the huge U.S. market and easy access to well-established smuggling routes to Asia and Australia, that makes for a profitable nexus of crime.

The largest-ever shipment of the date rape drug ketamine has been intercepted by the Canada Border Services Agency working with the RCMP. On Dec. 7, 2010, CBSA noticed a suspicious container shipment coming from Hong Kong. More than 1000 kilos of ketamine was found hidden in boxes of coffee mugs.

Colleen Pinvidic, Chief of Marine Container Operations, Canadian Border ServicesAgency (CBSA), left, Superintendent Brian Cantera, Officer in Charge of the RCMP Federal Drug Enforcement Program in BC at the podium, announce on Monday a ketamine seizure.

Press Releases: West Coast RCMP set up a new framework to reach youth

Tofino and Ucluelet RCMP are working together to present a new framework to promote healthy youth in each community.

The Community Prevention Education Continuum (CPEC) program is using the DARE program for Grade 5 students as its platform to launch this comprehensive strategy from, according to Sgt. Jeff Swann.

"CPEC, if done right, can make some profound changes in our youth, and in just a short while, as these youth age, it will make even more positive pronounced changes in our community," Swann said in a media release. "It is essentially a drug-prevention framework that is grounded in the principles of prevention and engages and promotes the strengths of our West Coast communities."

Press Releases: New UN report highlights shift towards new drugs and new markets

23 June 2010 – Amphetamine-type stimulants and prescription medications are increasingly becoming the drugs of choice globally, according to a new United Nations report, which also notes that drug use has stabilized in developed nations while it seems to be rising in the developing world.

The World Drug Report 2010, launched today by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), says that the number of users of synthetic drugs – estimated at around 30 to 40 million people worldwide – will soon exceed the number of users of opiates and cocaine combined.

“We will not solve the world drugs problem if we simply push addiction from cocaine and heroin to other addictive substances – and there are unlimited amounts of them, produced in mafia labs at trivial costs,” warned UNODC Executive Director Antonio Maria Costa.

The agency noted in a news release that the market for amphetamine-type stimulants is harder to track because of short trafficking routes, and the fact that many of the raw materials are both legal and readily available. Manufacturers are quick to market new products, such as ketamine and mephedrone, and exploit new markets.

“These new drugs cause a double problem,” noted Mr. Costa. “First, they are being developed at a much faster rate than regulatory norms and law enforcement can keep up. Second, their marketing is cunningly clever, as they are custom-manufactured so as to meet the specific preference in each situation.”

Press Releases: 1 in 5 U.S. high schoolers taking medicines without prescriptions: CDC

ATLANTA - A new report shows one in five high school students in the United States have taken a prescription drug that they didn't get from a doctor.

The abused drugs include pain pills and attention deficit drugs used as study aids.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study found that the drug use was most common among 12th graders. White students took the drugs more than blacks or Hispanics.

The CDC did not have information on which drugs were abused the most.

The findings released Thursday come from a 2009 confidential and anonymous survey of more than 16,000 U.S. high school students. This was the first year students were asked about prescription drug abuse.

TORONTO, May 18 /CNW/ - Levels of the serotonin transporter are low in the brains of users of ecstasy, according to a US National Institute of Drug Abuse-funded study by Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) published today in the journal Brain.

Ecstasy (mdma) is a stimulant drug widely used recreationally that is also being tested in clinical trials for the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Led by Dr. Stephen Kish at CAMH, this study provides confirmation of a previous finding from Johns Hopkins University that levels of the serotonin transporter (SERT) are low in cerebral cortex of chronic ecstasy users. The subjects were "typical" ecstasy users who used about two tablets of the drug twice a month.

SERT is a protein responsible for regulating levels of serotonin, a neurotransmitter important for mood and impulse control. Ecstasy interacts with SERT to cause the release of serotonin, an action that probably explains some of the behavioral effects of the drug such as increased sociability.

Scientists have long suspected that ecstasy might harm brain cells that use serotonin, but 12 years of brain scan studies have produced contradictory results, even within the same laboratory.

Press Releases: UN DRUG CZAR URGES CANADA TO TAKE ACTION

Gangs Seen As Global Suppliers Of Ecstasy, Amphetamines
WASHINGTON -- The United Nations' drug czar is urging Canada to take action on a UN report that identifies Canadian gangs as the leading suppliers of ecstasy in North America and increasingly proficient producers of methamphetamine for markets around the world.

"Canada has emerged an important hub for ecstasy and amphetamines," Antonio Maria Costa told a news conference Wednesday in the U.S. capital as he released the agency's 2009 World Drug Report.

Costa said the lucrative underground industry of manufacturing amphetamines has migrated north to Canada since both the U.S. and Mexico banned the chemical precursors used to make the drugs.

"These important measures taken by countries inevitably tend to create a problem somewhere else unless similar measures are undertaken," he said.

"So I am inviting Canada to be equally proactive in taking the measures which are preventive strikes to avoid the proliferation of manufacturing of amphetamines in that country."

Press Releases: KEEPING AN EYE OUT FOR METH - NB

Local Police Are Being Proactive In Stopping The Problem Before It Starts

Methamphetamines have yet to make a strong presence in the region, but law enforcement officials are keeping a sharp lookout for the highly addictive drug.

The RCMP issued a press release on May 7, warning high school and university students in the Fredericton area to be aware of drug dealers selling meth as other drugs, particularly ecstasy.

"While ecstasy and meth are both very dangerous drugs, meth is especially addictive and deadly," Sgt. Mary Ann MacNeil wrote in the release. MacNeil is a member of the RCMP's Drugs and Organized Crime Awareness Services.